Shark Bay World Heritage Area

July 3, 2017

 We drove to Hamelin Pool via Kalbarri
did a little shopping & picked up $100+ tatslotto winnings

checked into our camp & went down the road to Hamelin Pool.  The living microbes that build Stromatolites in the highly saline waters are similar to the earliest forms of life dating back 3000 million years. Colonies of marine Stromatolites have helped science gain a better understanding of the evolution of life on earth over the millennia. These are the oldest, largest display anywhere in the world.


odometer reading 57,456
kms travelled today 356
kms travelled so far 7,625
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

July 4, 2017

We drove along World Heritage Drive to Nanga Bay Resort and on to Shell Beach which is comprised of countless millions of tiny shells. Scientists now know that a lack of predators due to the high local salinity cause the animals to grow so rapidly & profusely in the area. The shell build up is 25-30 feet deep (8-9 metres).

We then visited Whalebone & Fowlers Camp (free campsites) & checked for wildlife from Eagle Bluff - no luck today.

Onto Denham (once a pearler's camp) for lunch.

We were a bit late to Monkey Mia :)

Here's what Monkey Mia looks like without the dolphins.

We drove in to Francois Peron National Park.  Les had to let the tyres down for us to continue driving. We ended up  at Big Lagoon.










odometer reading 57,783
kms travelled today 327
kms travelled so far 7,952
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

July 5, 2017

Yesterday we had wanted to travel to Steep Point but Google told us it would take us 6 hours 1 way so that's why we went to Denham etc. We asked @ the Information Centre there & they assured us that only the last 30kms were sand. So, today we set out for Steep Point.  Francois Peron NP was just a little practice for today. Tyre pressure down again & off we set.  Sometimes we couldn't see the road for the bonnet we were climbing at such an angle & of course we met many vehicles on the crest of a hill or just around a corner - very sandy in many places. Very corrugated in others.

We registered that we were in the park and checked in with the ranger. She told us that there were many rocks on the western side that were ripping tyre walls so we knew what section of the road to avoid. We did drive to Nor 6 - this is the site of a shipwreck in the 60s where miraculously the captain survived to be rescued 2 weeks later - maybe Tom Hanks should make a movie about this?

& we made it to Steep Point! (in 3 - 4 hours - lots of sightseeing on the way) We drove over long white sandy beaches with fabulous blue waters apart from the 4WD adventure tracks.

We saw a pod of whales out to sea frolicking around & having a great time - perhaps they were on the Australia ByPass Route?

On October 1616, Dirk Hartog, Captain of a Dutch trading ship, landed at Cape Inscription on what is now known as Dirk Hartog Island and was the first recorded white man to set foot on Australian soil.

Dirk Hartog Island is just to the north of Steep Point.

We passed lots of sand hills - could have been in the Sahara!

A great Day! - we really prefer this side of Shark Bay to what we saw yesterday.








odometer reading 58,114
kms travelled today 331
kms travelled so far 8,283
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay

July 6, 2017

We drove to Hamelin Pool to check out the Telegraph Station, museum & the Shell Block Quarry.
Many of the old station homesteads were built from shell block as the shell block is a wonderful insulator. These days blocks are only taken to repair historic buildings.


Then Les drove on to Nanga Bay Resort for fuel & fishing & I walked the 4.5km back to camp.

Hamelin Station has provided great wood for our fires & we've had great company to share it with.

We've decided the giant marshmallows aren't as tasty as the regular ones.








odometer reading 58,243
kms travelled today 129
kms travelled so far 8,412
campsite Hamelin Outback Station Stay